OE rear end cover vs. Aftermarket.

[tlippy]

Just changed the rear end oil and decided to stick with the OE cover rather than opt for the $235 aftermarket one. And I'm glad I made this decision! First off - the change of oil is a piece of cake. And the Napa Permatex RTV Silicone Gasket Make comes with instructions and a "Guarantee Not To Leak". Secondly, the rear end guy at the Dodge Dealership told me not to use the 140 Synthetic - it's too expensive. Your best bet is to change the oil every 20K miles and forget all the synthetic hype. This info was music to my ears! Thirdly - if you opt for one of the aftermarket covers - their claim tto fame is the bottom drain plug. There's a deep depression in the rear end housing that looks to trap all the sludge. If you just drain and refill, you'll miss cleaning out the last 4oz of sludge. The cover has got to be removed to get to this pocket. Kinda like changing oil and keeping the dirty filter. Fourth - The OE rear end cover has a BIG magnet mounted on the cover to catch the slivers. Don't remember anything about magnets in the aftermarket covers. Lastly - the owners manual states the rear end doesn't require changing under normal conditons. I'm going to change every 40K JFTHOI. If you have to remove the aftermarket covers anyway to clean out the gunk and change the oil every 40k - what's the payback? JMHO!

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99' Quad 4x4 A/T LB 3. 54 30K Miles.
26' Terry w/slide 7500GVWR
"KISS your truck and it will be forever faithful"

 

[Archive]

Tlippy, I see you are going fishing again! Think you have the right bait this time? LOL.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

tlippy,

Reason #3 is why I stick with my OE diff cover. I have a handy electric vacuum pump to suck that sludge out of the depression.
But I'm a believer in synthetics, and if you use standard gear oil and pull that TT thru the Cascades, 40K is a LONG time to leave that stuff in there. Good thing you run with stock power #ad


Vaughn

 

[C Schomer]

The junk that came in mine looked like tar after 9k miles. Dana made an aluminum cover for the 80 that they sold to motorhome mfgrs for about $85. It wasn't any bigger but the bare alum would cool the rear down 20 degrees. I put a 45 degree street ell in mine and an other quart of oil and cooled mine down a little. The axle seals haven't burnt up since! I don't think the after market covers are worth near as much as they want you to believe. Craig

 

[John]

Reason #3 would be moot if you were using a quality synthetic gear oil. In addition, there is NO WHERE near 4 oz. of gear lube in the bottom cavity of the differential that will not freely drain out.

I don't know about the rest of you but I'm as happy with my Mag-Hytec differential cover as the day I received it from the UPS man! It rates right up there with prying something else from my cold dead fingers. #ad
The increased gear oil capacity, the reduced rear end temps. due to the finned aluminum cover design (documented), are just several of the reasons I would never part with mine.

Awesome product Roy!

..... now if you could just get my new DEEP transmission pan to me... the one with the special serial number (via The PowerShop), I'd be a REAL happy camper. I almost hate to part with my original version.

BTW, in my experience setting up differentials I've found the most wear occurs within the first 100 miles therefore, I would change to a quality synthetic (such as Amsoil Series 2000) or the non-synthetic recommended by Roy of Mag-Hytec, Lubrication Engineers, LE-607 gear oil somewhere between 100 and 1000 miles.

[This message has been edited by John (edited 01-12-2001). ]

 

[Mad Max]

I either of the more popular aftermarket RE Covers would clear my spare...

Running the Draw-Tite 141923 my 2500 QC/SWB's 265 spare could touch the OEM cover under certain circumstances.

Since switched to Titan (cross bar for hitch under bumper, not up behind it... spare is in the clear from what I can tell now... but I'm not in a hurry to try and fill in what little clearance I have.

Pulled it, cleaned it, button'ed it back up and filled it w/ Series 2000 75w140... not a peep out of it.

Max

 

[bigmikie]

Tippy, I wouldn't listen to everyone else all the time. I don,t care what everyone else says. If you read about most aftermarket covers there IS magnets in them (Mag-Hytec-2ea). Synthetic lube DOES work. Look what the aircraft industry uses. The Mag-Hytec is made of Alum. and holds over twice as much fluid in the Dana 80 (cooling). When you did all that work you should have put a cover on. Thats just my thoughts.

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2001. 5 3500 ETH/DEE It is one of the new Stealth models, you know, the ones that sure feel like they have been worked.

 

[_Hyde]

If you're concerned about the stuff that gets in that cavity at the bottom of the casting you can still take the MH back off. You can take it off and put it back on in a matter of minutes without having to clean the cover or housing of old gasket material. Plus you can drain it out through the drain plug and minimize the mess. Then you can fill it with just quart bottles and funnel almost as fast as you can pour oil in an engine. I'm sure the rear end guy (or maybe back door guy) at your friendly neighborhood Dodge dealer is refering to the Mopar Syn140 as being too expensive. The only Syn140 that I know of that you can get in quarts is Amsoil, I'm sure there are others. The price on it is not that bad, especially if you become a dealer or preffered customer. What am I trying to say? Do what you want to do and what gives you a warm fuzzy feeling inside. My MH gives me a very warm & fuzzy feeling. YMMV. As for taking advise from folks at the dealership, there is probably someone up there that will tell you why you should use their $50+/- fuel filter as opposed to the Fleetguard or other quality brand.

Darren


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2001. 5 2500 4X4 SLT, ETH/DEE, Amsoil Bypass Filtration, Mag-Hytec w/Amsoil, Walker 21468, Passenger Side Grab Handle That DC No Longer Installs as of 7-00, Michael Brolin CB Mount, 11K@010401, ICQ: 103247365, IM: xxtreme223

 

[Bill Kondolay]

tlippy

Roy at Mag Hytec is a great guy and he has an excellent product but he does a lousy job of selling his product.

First of all i dont care that the cover holds more oil.

Second i really dont care if it has a drain plug, or if it has a magnet in it or not.

In my opinion the reason someone should get one is because it emiminates any flex and the aluminum disapates heat better.

I have been a drag racer for a lot of years and i have seen many times what diff gear deflections can do. What finally convinced me was when i had my driveshaft come through my racecar , when the rear end let go.

Most of the Dodge rams have a heck of a lot of torque, for guys that are not towing probably doesnt matter too much as your tires will break loose. For those of you towing it is definately worth the investment.

Bill
Diesel Transmisson Technology

 

[Big-D]

Bill... your DTT knowledge is unsurpassed, but your rear end advice leaves me wondering what you are trying to say. How can you say more oil for cooling isn't something you care about? How can you say a rear end cover made of aluminum stops flexing of the 3rd member? I'll go along with ya that it does transfer heat better, but that's all.

Maybe when you were drag racing a 10 to 15 second run didn't heat your rear end that much and extra oil may have added to your vehicle weight which you didn't want, but I'll take extra capacity anytime I can get it to offset temperature. I still change oil every 10K in the diff regardless of what the book says. The oil is just too inexpensive not to change on a regualr basis. Dave

 

[DUNE RACER]

My hats off to Roy, he builds a truly high quality product that I'm proud to have on my truck. More oil capacity will help lower oil temps, the heavy aluminum helps dissipate heat further and it looks great to boot. Popping for inspection is a piece of cake without all the gasket crud everywhere.

I get more people asking me about that cover then anything else on my truck, most think its a 2 speed rear end or something.

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2001 black dually,4x4, 6 speed H. O. ,loaded up and then some!

 

[Bill Kondolay]

What i guess i should have said was that rigidity is the first reason as to why i would buy this,2nd would be heat disipation,3rd would be oil capacity etc.

When that driveshaft ended up my car,it wasnt because of the oil capacity or the quality of the oil i was using,it was because the diff housing was flexing under that kind of load.

Bill Kondolay
Diesel Transmission Ltd.

 

[Barry]

Logistics could have something to do with all the diverse opinions. Here in Texas with road temps reaching over a 130 degrees F. we need all the help we can get.

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2001 2500 QC, ETH/DEE,4:10s, LSD, EZ with elbow(25PSI) Boost/Pyro Guages, 4" Turbo back, BD Brake,Mag-Hytec Cover, Kleen Wheels, Energy Release, 70 gal. fuel, 20K Reese. 22,000 miles on 12/19/00 (RV Dealer)

 

[rhoads]

With over 700k on my rig i have a right and the miles to back it up. . Still have the oem cover--change the lube when ever you like. . IF you use a superior lube.
My self i drain once a year and use Century 75 w 90 with the limeted slip additive.
You are not going to touch this product over the counter--Now a part of Fuchs---UNLESS you know they(Fuchs)-(Century) has been deam'ed the supplier for" Texaco" not a miss print----bottle'd under the Star
semi-syn 75 w 90 lable... ... ... ...
At what miles have i changed the diff lube?? Aprox min 100k and only have the OEM cover---Replaced one /make that 2 right rear wheel seals------Selling dealer's tech's screw up the warranty replacement--didn't last 600 mi and one day.
What other parts have replaced to date --ZIP.
Do you need a fancy cover with a dip stick and a headace to re-fill ?
NO. Been loaded to 32k and and 98 deg-and the steepest grades in the U. S. Why should I have spent a stasits symbil $200. ???????????

 

[WCrovo]

My 99 went67,000 miles with no diff issues,dana 70, towing most of the time. I feel the stock fluid is junk, looked like mud on first service. Switched to Redline whatever/140 and it never looked bad at service intervals of 15,000. I thought of extending the service interval because it always looked so good. Because of how crapy the fluid looked on my 99 at 12,000 miles I dumped the fluid on both diffs on my ETH/DEE at about 1,000 miles, and boy did it look horrid. I think the larger capacity is good just don't want to part with the 250 bucks.

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2001 2500 tow, camper, SWB, ETH, Bright white.

 

[kaffine krazed]

tlippy said "Secondly, the rear end guy at the Dodge Dealership told me not to use the 140 Synthetic - it's too expensive. Your best bet is to change the oil every 20K miles and forget all the synthetic hype. This info was music to my ears!"

You must have a better dealer where you live if mine told me that I'd wouldn't drive another mile without changing to a sythetic gear lube.

If your dealer tech says to change it every 20k miles why are you planning on changine it every 40k miles? If you trust the tech enough to use the oil he recommends why don't you follow his advice on when to change it #ad


edited to make smilly work.


[This message has been edited by kaffine krazed (edited 01-14-2001). ]

 

[tlippy]

kaffine - you're the only guy who picked up on that discrepancy! Why not change at 20K? The owners manual states that the rearend NEVER needs service. I tow a little bit. I just chose 40K as someplace between "NEVER" and "20K".
I do hate to admit this, though. It's Sunday morning and I let the liquid gasket dry overnight cause it's been below freezing the last week. Because of your tips, I am going to exchange the 85W90 and buy a 75W90 synthetic. Ain't TDR great! Thanks guys!



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99' Quad 4x4 A/T LB 3. 54 30K Miles.
26' Terry w/slide 7500GVWR
"KISS your truck and it will be forever faithful"

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Even Dodge recommends synthetic if you tow. 75-140 will give better protection than 75-90. Any diff lube should be changed every 40,000 miles or so. I never use the drain plug of my Mag-Hytec cover, and I have changed the lube twice since putting it on the first time. I like to clean out all the lube and inspect the parts. I use RTV instead of the o-ring, to Roy's horror. #ad
I want to be SURE it never leaks, even if the machined surface of the housing isn't the best. #ad


I like the extra capacity, and the magnetic dipstick to keep tabs on metal pickup. However, I feel the best features of the Mag-Hytec have not been addressed before in this thread, and this is the reason for my post. (1) the oil level is raised high enough to keep the outer axle bearings lubricated properly. The dipstick enables you to tell easily what the level is, and that it is high enough to remain in the axle tubes. With stock lube level, I pulled apart a diff after a week and found the axles and tubes still DRY. I bet the axle bearings didn't like that! (2) there is more room around the ring gear for lube to travel into the left axle tube. With the Dana 70 in particular, the left side axle bearings may not get enough lube because of the stock lube level and the tight clearance of the ring gear to the stock cover.

Do what you want, it's your truck. It seemed to me that this thread started as bait, so I didn't bother to reply until I saw that many members went beyond the original intent, into a worthwhile technical discussion. Other than price, the stock cover has no benefit for sealing over the Mag_Hytec, so what was the point of the original post? We all know how much credence to give the dealership techs. Some are good, but one who recommends using junk lube and changing it often vs. good lube and changing it often. . . #ad
Hence, I took the original post to be nothing more than bait designed to spin us up. If not, I apologize for my misinterpretation.

How many of you have checked the carrier preload? Many Rams have the carrier actually LOOSE instead of slightly preloaded. #ad
Maybe Dana now feels this is best, but why did they use heavy preload for 50 years? My diff carrier now has 0. 001" preload, was 0. 003" loose when I checked it.

 

[Bill Lins]

Originally posted by Joseph Donnelly:

How many of you have checked the carrier preload? Many Rams have the carrier actually LOOSE instead of slightly preloaded

Uh, Joe, how do we do that?

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Bill Lins Wharton, TX 98 2500 QC SLT,12 (the CORRECT # of)valves,NV4500,3. 54 LSD,Manik grille guard,Semi-Psychotty Air,Amsoil everywhere, Reading aluminum utility body and bumper,Optima yellow tops- silencer ring & muffler stolen.

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Bill, check TDR #24 and the factory service manual. You need to remove the axle shafts, diff cover, and side bearing caps to remove the carrier. If loose, the carrier will slide right out; if there is some bearing preload, you will feel the resistance to its removal.